Thursday, June 9, 2005
Airline-safety oversight curtailed by lack of inspectors, report says


THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON

Safety inspectors are not keeping up with potential risks posed by airlines trying to save money, according to a Transportation Department report yesterday, and the department's inspector general said that the problem could worsen.

The report said that it is critical that the Federal Aviation Administration stay on top of industry changes because the agency could have a shortage of inspectors next year as a result of budget cuts.

The agency is expected to lose about 300 aviation-safety inspectors this year and has plans to replace only one-third of them, the report said.

The FAA defended its safety record and oversight during a period when low-cost carriers expanded and traditional airlines looked for ways to cut costs.

American, United and other major carriers have lost record amounts of money and are trying to match the efficiency of such low-cost competitors as Southwest and JetBlue.

Airlines worked to get planes in and out of airports more quickly and contracted out maintenance operations, but FAA inspectors "did not respond to industry changes in a timely and consistent manner," the report said.

A plane that spends less time on the ground has less time to allow its brakes to cool. Maintenance done by subcontractors receives less oversight from airlines than if the work were done in-house.

The FAA said it recognized the industry's evolution in recent years and improved the way it oversees safety.

The report looked at five major airlines that have lost record amounts of money - United, Delta, American, Northwest and US Airways. The FAA stepped up its surveillance only at the three that are in or near bankruptcy, the report said.

Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, those five carriers have retired 664 aircraft and stored 166 more, and closed 42 maintenance centers. The companies cut 9,920 pilots and 12,873 mechanics through the end of 2003.The FAA has a policy of increasing its oversight of financially troubled airlines.

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Industry changes hurt FAA oversight
By Alan Levin, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON "” The Federal Aviation Administration needs to tighten oversight of the nation's financially strapped airlines, which are restructuring so quickly that regulators can't keep up with threats to safety, a government watchdog report charged Wednesday.

The Transportation Department's inspector general stopped short of saying passengers were at greater risk. The report pointed to recent incidents that suggest the financial chaos hitting the airline industry may be taking its toll.

For instance, the report refers to an increase in minor accidents on the ground involving jets operated by an undisclosed airline seeking bankruptcy protection. In one of those incidents, a jet struck another while taxiing, the report said. No one was injured, but the collision could have caused deaths, the report says.

The report said problems at another airline in the midst of bankruptcy were partly the result of "the prolonged psychological stress and fatigue" brought on by pilots dealing with large pay cuts.


Despite such issues, inspector general investigators found that many planned inspections were not completed by the FAA, and the agency sometimes reacted slowly to danger signs at several carriers.

The FAA reacted angrily to the report. Spokesman Greg Martin said it "vastly underestimates" the advances the agency has made over the past decade.

Peggy Gilligan, the FAA's deputy associate administrator for safety, said the agency has for years tried to adapt more quickly to changes in the airline industry. Its inspectors use computer data to track troubling trends and special teams keep an eye on financially troubled carriers, Gilligan said.

The airline industry is in its safest period in history. There have been no fatal crashes of a large jet in 3 years.

Airlines have changed at an unprecedented pace during the same period. They have laid off more than 20,000 pilots and mechanics from 2001 through 2003. Many carriers turned to other companies to maintain their jets. At the same time, start-up carriers such as JetBlue have grown rapidly.

Investigators reviewed FAA oversight at five traditional large airlines and five low-cost carriers. Three have sought bankruptcy protection, and some are losing money, while others are growing rapidly.

"We found problems in key areas," said the report by Inspector General Kenneth Mead.

According to the report:

"¢ An audit found that 26% of inspections at the five large airlines studied were not completed. The majority of those inspections were in areas identified as high priority by the FAA.

"¢ Fewer than one of 10 inspections occurred at night, when airlines perform 90% of maintenance.

"¢ Even though most airlines are contracting out more maintenance to save money, the FAA's oversight of independent maintenance facilities has lagged.

"¢ FAA inspectors at five of the 10 airlines studied said they were reluctant to highlight risks because it could create too much work.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-06-08-faa-inspection_x.htm